Los Montesinos Town Council, representing a municipality of 5,800 residents, is launching an automated red-light detection system on Avenida del Mar, the main thoroughfare through the urban centre. The contract includes the installation of two red-light camera devices at the junction with Calle Carlos Diez. This setup will monitor traffic in both directions at the same traffic light using number plate recognition, image capture, and the generation of an evidence file that will subsequently be reviewed by the Local Police. Municipal authorities aim to reduce traffic violations and average speeds at a location identified by a municipal technician as a high-risk zone due to being a two-way street.
The initial service contract will run for two years, with the possibility of an extension for up to four years. It sets a maximum fee of 11.57 euro plus VAT for each reported evidence file that leads to a sanction. Under this arrangement, the successful contractor, who is responsible for investing in the hardware, secures higher revenue as more penalties are processed. While the primary purpose of the fines is to act as a deterrent to improve road safety and prevent accidents, the measure will also bring in additional revenue for the municipal coffers. According to the DGT traffic authority, the penalty for running a red light stands at 200 euro along with the loss of four driving licence points.
The system will not convert every captured image into an automatic fine. According to the technical specifications, when the equipment detects a vehicle potentially crossing the stop line while the light is red, it will capture photographs and may also record video. This material will then be sent to the management system so that Local Police officers can verify whether an offence was actually committed before initiating a fine.
The conditions of service state that the equipment must record the vehicle registration plate, date, time, location, traffic light phase, and the context of the manoeuvre. Digital watermarking must also be built in to ensure images cannot be tampered with. Additionally, the contract mandates informative “red-light camera” signage, training for municipal operators, and ongoing system maintenance.
The specifications outlined by Los Montesinos require the system to prevent false positives, defining improper operation as the occurrence of two sanctionable false positives in a month or five within a quarter. The system also allows for whitelist creation to exclude specific number plates, a common feature in these setups for emergency public services or authorized vehicles.
Municipal leaders justify the decision by highlighting the need to boost road safety and reinforce compliance with traffic rules in a busy urban area. Avenida del Mar handles both local traffic and connecting routes around Los Montesinos, making the technology a digital aid to Local Police monitoring efforts.
Los Montesinos joins a growing trend among smaller municipalities in the Vega Baja region. San Miguel de Salinas previously installed a red-light camera on Calle Galant Delgado, a location described by its council as critical due to two-way traffic, school crossings, and recent accident history. That contract provided two systems to monitor both entrances to the road, awarded to TST Telecomunicaciones y Desarrollo 98 for 12,100 euro including VAT. San Isidro also operates a red-light camera system at the corner of Calle Tierno Galván and the CV-909, using a licence plate reader and an environmental camera to regulate traffic discipline, though that municipality omitted its legal duty to publish the award notice on the Public Procurement Portal.
